Hello everyone. So I was hoping you all wouldn’t mind critiquing my Animal Kingdom plan. We plan to be very early rope droppers who hit Navi River first and skip FOP bc we have late fast passes for it. It is our goal to skip nap time and be out of the park by 6:00pm for an early night in. If I were to drop any attractions it might be “Its Tough To Be A Bug”. Questions: Am I missing any key attractions, or shows or entertainment?(We are skipping KS, I know, we are ok with it). Does the touring plan program give me enough time in places like the Boneyard and Conservation Station or the trails? In general, how is my plan? Fingers crossed my attachment works…
Filthy Animals.pdf (853.6 KB)
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I don’t see Festival of the Lion King on there anywhere. That show is always a big hit with our crew. How old are the kids in your party? I’m not sure if it would work timingwise but maybe switch out It’s Tough to be a Bug for that.
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Thanks. I actually think I will do that as my children were kind of scared of Tough to be a Bug. We did Lion King last year but it is good enough to repeat. I am trying to hit a lot we didn’t get to last year and leaving off a few things we did get too last year like KS.
Eep just realizing everyone can see my plan name. It is a reference to “Home Alone” and not to the animals in the park. If anything I am calling my family the filthy animals if that makes it any better 
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If kiddos are concerned about Tough to be a Bug, maybe give them fair warning about Dinosaur? Perhaps watch a ride video in advance so they know what to expect.
With your early start at NRJ and your evening ride on FOP, Satu’li is delish QS if you need a quick breakfast or dinner and haven’t eaten there before. You can order on the app so easy to manage.
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I might also be tempted to do KS and leave out one of the trails. But that’s because I love the safari! It is a chance to sit down for a nice break instead of walking in the heat. It would take more time though since you can’t get a fastpass for it.
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I can’t imagine skipping KS, (we often do it more than once in a day!) but to each his own.
Also, if you arrive pre-RD, even 15 minutes, you should be off of Navi at 8 or 805. You can get a lot done in the first hour. We RD’d Navi at 8, then hit Dinosaur, Everest x 2, grabbed a snack, and made it to KS (it was a day that KS didn’t open until 9:00) and then to the FOTLK for the 10:00 show
I think that the Rafiki’s Planet Watch/Conservation Station is a tight fit in your plan. We easily spent an hour there slowly wandering around, meeting Rafiki, looking at everything, waiting for the train back, etc. You may not need that much time or you may. You could move your Boneyard and Fossil Fun games to pre-lunch (it would add more walking) but you have almost an hour free and that also gives you a reason to actually leave the Boneyard (and my kids never want to leave!). Then you’d have more free time in the afternoon to accommodate a longer Conservation Station visit.
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I would allow an hour for the Boneyard& plan to bribe or carry your kids out 
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I love the name of your plan! I’m so boring “animal kingdom - day 1”.
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I’m not sure it is a good idea to do Kali River Rapids RIGHT before lunch. You may be eating while soaked. And with air-conditioning, cold. Doing a water ride is best when you are already hot, and then going to stay out in the heat long enough to dry off.
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I agree with the Kali thoughts…I’d do it right before I went home…;). We always skip KS too, we live in a city with a fantastic amazing incredible zoo…so, we don’t do the trails or KS…and we are out of there by 4…my youngest though gets swayed by all the Wilderness Explorer Badges(I have a love hate relationship with those things) so I expect I am going to have to start adding those to my plan. 
SO, you may want to plan for the kids to “go off the reservation” on you…mine often do!
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I really appreciate the responses from everyone. I think you have all given me a lot of good tips and advice.
I feel the same way about us having a good zoo which is why we were thinking of skipping KS. Not only did we do it last year, but my father has a large farm and we spend a lot of time riding off road in a truck looking for wild animals like deer and turkey. I get the appeal of the ride especially if you never get to go off roading but I sort of feel like KS, for me, is over rated, but I realize that is probably not going to be a very popular opinion here.
Based off of all the great feedback everyone is giving me, I think I am going to cut “It’s a Bugs Life” and one of the trails. This will give us more time in the Boneyard and at Conservation Station and give the kids the option to go off the plan. If we complete everything on the list and have time to spare I will add the Lion King show.
Thank you for pointing this out. I didn’t even consider being wet. We have never done this ride. I guess I expected to get splashed but wasn’t thinking we would be drenched. I will see what if anything I can modify but we may just be stuck with it. If we are stuck with it I think we will put on ponchos.
Thanks :)
My DW isn’t especially fond of it but I will refer to our little ones as “filthy hobbits” or “filthy hobbitses” (in the gollum voice) if they are being naughty or messy.
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We live in Omaha, NE and our zoo is world class…my kids rode KS in 2015 cause their Aunt wanted to…they kept asking where the animal were…people looked at them like they were nuts…our zoo when you see the lions, you see about 15…and you are in the middle of the habitat. Our zoo has created exhibits where it feels like you are in the cage, in the middle of the habitats! So, yeah, we skip that…and the trails, cause really…MORE walking??? Yeah, no…but we would take more time at Everest, cause we would fp it once and single rider it 3-5 more times…:).
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I was just in Omaha yesterday. I have been going there frequently for business over the last few years and I love that community there. I have not been to the zoo yet but I keep meaning to go, I just can’t seem to be bothered to leave Old Market, it is so awesome. I love sitting at La Buvette, eating charcuterie, drinking wine, and people watching.
On Kali, you MIGHT come off just splashed, but you also will more likely come off at least partially soaked. You might consider swapping it for the Boneyard/Fossil Fun Games. Although, then you end up wet just before going to Finding Nemo, which is also air-conditioned.
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